Wake Me Up
by TerribleWaitress
Summary: "Maybe you're my snowflake." A look into the little things in Leonard & Penny's relationship as it slowly moves forward.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - I am venturing into the songfic world. This is based on Ed Sheeran's 'Wake Me Up' because Molly mentioned it a while back and the other day I was listening to it and I was like ok, here we go. I was just going to do a part of the song but... there are so many amazing parts so I'm doing the whole thing instead! Here's the first part :) Let me know what you think! Some parts are adapted to work with other ideas I have, so, yeah. Enjoy! **

* * *

Penny smiled as she took out her and Leonard's passports to place with the tickets to Heathrow Airport in London. She liked saying it. She'd never been there. He was going to do a few lectures at Oxford and Cambridge, but they were going to spend a few days in London before and after, to explore the city.

Out of nosiness, she opened Leonard's passport to the photo page and grinned. It was a fairly old photograph, but he still looked exactly the same. He wasn't wearing his glasses, she supposed you had to keep your face clear for the photo, and looked very serious, since you weren't permitted to smile. He looked kind of sexy, she thought, and she bit her lip. Her eyes moved over to the information printed there, which she already knew. She knew when his passport expired because he'd been moaning about it the other day, saying he'd have to get another picture taken, which he didn't like doing. Tracing her fingers over his name, she sighed and put it down.

She opened her own. Thankfully, that wasn't due to expire for another three years, though she could certainly do with a new photo. When this one had been taken, she hadn't bothered to do her make-up or her hair, so it was tied back into a ponytail and she looked very blank. It was an old photograph, and she hoped she looked better these days than she did in the photo when she didn't wear make-up.

Placing the two passports next to each other, she frowned before looking around the room. Slowly, she shifted his down slightly, so that the 'Surname' part of his passport lined up with her 'Given Name'. Heart beating wildly, she stared down in front of her.

"Penny Hofstadter," she whispered curiously, eyes not leaving the name she had created with the two passports in front of her.

It looked nice. It sounded good too. She'd need to change her signature though. And the photograph. She wanted to look like his wife, not some lazy, unruly teenager.

Strangely, the way her thought process had just escalated, hadn't frightened her.

"Penny Hofstadter..." she whispered again, this time more as a statement. "Penny Hofstadter."

Three years was too long to wait. She wouldn't replace her passport with a new swanky one with one of those things you could use with electronic gates, because it had expired. She was going to beat the date on her passport and get it changed before then, with a new photograph, a new signature, a new surname. Leonard's surname.

"Sweetie, you get the passports?"

Penny snatched up the passports and held them up. "Yes!" She said quickly, waving them at him. "Got them. They're here. They haven't expired. We're all good."

* * *

One day, he would have a ring on the fourth finger of his left hand.

He didn't have a single doubt that Penny would one day propose. She would be ready one day, he saw it in her eyes that she'd get there eventually. When she had told him 'eventually I'll say yes' it had shown him that despite her being absolutely terrified, she _knew _she would say yes one day - whenever it was - and that she had thought about it. And he respected that, because it _was _a big step, and she hadn't shot the idea down.

Then, of course, there had been him telling her that _she _had to propose, when she was ready. Her face had shown him that she was nervous, confused and slightly worried... but she'd agreed. 'You got it'. Her voice had said that with certainty, she understood his request and what it meant, and she was going to give it to him, one day.

And now he'd see it in the little things she did, that she didn't think he noticed. When she held his left hand, sometimes he'd feel her thumb gently rubbing the spot where the ring would one day be. Sometimes he would find her getting ready, putting on her jewelry, and she'd put a plain silver ring on her fourth finger and stare at it with a small smile on her face. She wouldn't wear a ring on that finger in the end, just looking at it in private.

So he knew that one day, it would happen. Eventually there'd be a ring on his fourth finger, left hand, and it would match hers.

* * *

"Hey sweetie," Penny smiled over at Leonard from the kitchen. "How was work?"

"Hey." Leonard didn't even come over to kiss her, instead just flopping down onto the couch. "I'm so tired. This experiment is going to be the end of me."

"Aww," Penny frowned, putting down the knife she was using and coming over to sit next to him. "I hate to say it, but you do look tired."

"Mmh, I feel it." Leonard closed his eyes as he yawned.

"Poor baby," she kissed his forehead.

"I want to sleep, but I'm too stressed to sleep," Leonard sighed, re-opening his eyes.

"I know, sweetie," Penny looked at him sympathetically and put her arm on his. She rubbed his arm for a while, before suddenly standing up. "Wait here."

Leonard looked at her with a confused expression as she ran off to the bedroom, before turning his head back to look at the blank television screen in front of him. He honestly couldn't wait until they finished, which would hopefully be at the latest by the end of the week, but right now that felt like years away. It would be a fun experiment, and not nearly as stressful, had it not been put into such a small timeframe. All the hopeless grad students weren't helping either. It was just too much in too little time, and it was a lot to handle.

He wondered where Penny had got to. He could hear the sound of water running and her singing something. Was she taking a shower? How was that supposed to help him? Pulling himself off the couch, he slouched through the bedroom and found her in the bathroom with her hands on her hips.

"Penny?"

"Yeah?" She turned around, smiling when she saw him. "Oh. I ran you a bubble bath. The bubbles are supposed to relax you, that's what it says on the bottle. Get in."

"Really?" Leonard raised a doubtful brow. "A bubble bath?"

"Yes. Now get in." He raised both brows at her questioningly, but she stood there stubbornly, so he began to undress. She watched as he got into the bath, before nodding to herself. "Good. You can turn the water off. I'll be right back."

Penny walked quickly from the bathroom and back to the kitchen. She heard the water shut off and smiled to herself. She placed the two mugs of tea onto a tray, as well as the salad she had made earlier, and then put the bread she had made and just finished slicing onto a plate and added that to the tray too. Carefully, she walked back through to the bathroom.

"Umm..." She held the tray out to Leonard. "Hold this."

"Ooh," Leonard took the tray from her, smiling slightly. She disappeared but quickly returned with a sturdy stool, which she placed next to the bath. She took the tray back and placed it on there. He then watched as she pulled her hair up and undressed; smirking he sat up in the bath. "Well this promises to be good."

"Nuh-uh." Penny shook her head, biting her lip despite herself. "That's not what we're doing." She stepped into the bathtub, sitting down in front of Leonard. "Ooh, this is good. Anyway... we're going to have a nice, relaxing bubble bath together. The tea and food are so we can eat while we're in here, and the tea... that's relaxing too. And then it's a very early night for you, mister."

Leonard considered this for a moment, before yawning. "I was going to ask about sex but... I'm too tired." He picked up a slice of bread and took a bite. "This is really good."

"Really? Good! I baked it myself." Penny grinned.

"Seriously?"

"Yup." Penny nodded proudly. "Now eat up and drink your tea, baby. You have a bubbly massage waiting, and then cuddles in bed with your girlfriend. We all need your genius brain but that genius brain needs some rest."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Here is Part 2... okay, so the first part is cheesy. But it had to be and I'm not sorry. The next chapter of HK should be up Friday, maybe tomorrow since I seem to be in proper writing mode today! I updated on Monday whilst in Austria and the WiFi was really messing with me so it's nice to be writing this A/N without the page freezing on me (hence why I didn't add an A/N on Monday). Anyway, enjoy, and as always let me know what you think :) **

* * *

It had taken a little over five years to tell him three simple words. Yes, they meant a lot, but she had felt them long before she'd said them.

Every time she looked over at the snowflake beside her bed, she couldn't help the smile that would creep onto her face. They hadn't even been dating when he'd got her that. While she'd been thinking of him those three months, he'd gone and given her this wonderful one-of-a-kind gift.

And just like the snowflake, Penny knew Leonard was one-of-a-kind. Her best friend, but also her boyfriend. The guy who could explain the universe to her, but also the guy who would listen to her simple problems and spend as much time figuring them out as he would a complex equation. A complete nerd but also a total romantic. A man who knew his way round the Mario-Kart racetrack as well as her body. Toned, but not overwhelming. Handsome, but not fake. Flawed, but far from imperfect. He loved her, and she loved him back.

What made him so unique was that unlike his friends, he'd made all the moves himself. Asking her out on their first date, both times, despite how shy and nervous he was. He'd let her take the reins when she was scared about going too fast, but he was the one who'd come up with the whole beta idea. He never forced anything upon her, like other guys had, but he had his say and let her have hers. He learnt from pushing her too far when he'd said "I love you" the first time round, to just let her take her time until she was ready.

He was her snowflake. Just one look at that piece of Perspex reminded her of everything she loved about him, from the way he looked the first time they'd met to the way his hand held hers while they slept like they were now.

Reaching out her hand, she picked up the red pouch on which the snowflake rested. It would be a great place to hide his engagement ring.

* * *

Penny groaned in frustration for the third time in five minutes, this time louder than before. Leonard looked up from his book and scooted over to sit next to her, peeking at the screen of her laptop.

"What's wrong?"

"My parents!" Penny pointed to the screen with a flick of her hand. "They emailed me like, oh, come to Nebraska for Christmas! And I told them that I want to. But I don't have the money to go there and take time off work, and I don't have the time to go away for even a week because then I'll just have no money. They don't get it."

Leonard put his arm around her, placing his book down and moving his head slightly to read the emails on her screen. He frowned, and turned to her once he had finished reading them. She was right, her parents didn't understand her point, but he couldn't help feeling slightly jealous that her parents actually _wanted _her to make the effort of visiting them over the holidays.

"I haven't been back in _so _long," she said after a while, sniffling slightly. "And I really want to go back, but I just can't. They ask me every year. Now they're using you as their argument, 'you should show Leonard where you grew up' 'your mother wants to meet him' - good for her, fly to Pasadena then! Nebraska is cold, I don't think Leonard wants to spend his Christmas on a freezing cold farm with my crazy family!"

"Yeah, I saw that." Leonard nodded. "I wouldn't mind going to Omaha to meet your crazy family."

"Mm, even so. Look at these flight prices." Penny clicked furiously at the next tab, bringing up the prices of plane tickets. "I know it's not that much but I don't _have _that much. And my car wouldn't hold out all the way to Nebraska and back."

"So... you wouldn't mind if I went with you?" Leonard raised his brows. "You want me to meet your family."

"Yeah," Penny smiled. "Though don't get too excited. They're... a lot to handle, you know, my sister shot her husband, my brother... God knows. And I'm not going, so, whatever."

"Go make me a cup of hot cocoa, I'm cold." Leonard said, taking the laptop from Penny's lap.

"What are you doing?" Penny stared at him as he reloaded the flights page and started entering two passengers to fly to and from Omaha.

"We're going to spend Christmas in Nebraska. Now go make me my hot cocoa!"

And so, with Leonard having booked and paid for their travel, they flew out to Penny's childhood home. Wyatt was glad to see Leonard again, welcoming him in like family. Penny's mother had been excited to meet him and told Penny how happy she was for her, and made them a large hot dinner. They sat around the front room talking that evening, with a large fire burning opposite the couch. They went to bed early, tired from the flight, and were told Penny's siblings would be arriving tomorrow.

Leonard was slightly surprised to find a fireplace in Penny's room, also lit. It was a one-story house, with her room being right at the end. He looked around at all the posters and photographs in her bedroom as she sat down in front of the fire with her hands out. Smiling, he joined her.

"You don't have central heating or anything?" Leonard asked, wrapping his arms around her as she shivered.

"We do, but it's not that great and it's just not enough." Penny leant into him. "It's an old house. Mom and Dad like it that way."

"I guess we're too used to the California weather." Leonard chuckled, rubbing her arm.

Penny turned her head to grin at him, and he watched the reflection of the fire dance in her eyes for a moment before she spoke. "This is kinda romantic, you know." She jumped up suddenly, and ran to her door, locking it. "I can think of other ways to keep warm in front of the fire."

* * *

"You almost done?" Leonard called from the front room, putting down the comic book he'd just finished.

"Yeah!" Penny called back. "Just finishing off my hair."

Leonard stood up, straightening his shirt as he walked over to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. He took a sip before walking over to the bedroom, and taking a quick check of himself in the mirror. A shirt paired with jeans wasn't his usual choice of attire, but Penny had said it would look cute. He didn't want to wear a dorky t-shirt and hoodie to the bar either, so he'd gone with this. Smart-casual, Penny had said it was. They were just going for a small dinner and a few drinks to relax after a long week, and he wanted to at least look half decent for the first time they spent more than two waking hours in each others company.

Giving himself a small nod, he put the water down and walked into the bathroom to see if Penny was _really _almost finished, or doing her usual 'I'll be five minutes, but that really means twenty minutes'.

He grinned as he spotted her in front of the mirror, dressed, make-up done, brushing through her hair, straighteners on the toilet seat, switched off and resting on a protective heat mat. _Good, she's almost done. _

Smiling, Leonard leant against the doorframe as he watched her brush through her soft, blonde locks. Putting the brush down, Penny placed her thumb and little finger at her roots, pushing at them slightly to add volume, before running her hands back through her hair. It amazing him how girls could spend so much time on their hair, doing small things like this with such concentration. Sometimes he didn't even look in the mirror when he combed his hair back, but he guessed that was probably why Penny would fuss over it later. He watched as she studied herself in the mirror for a moment, before flicking her hair over her shoulders and shaking her head slightly to adjust it over her back. It was a mesmerizing movement, and she did it often. He knew she didn't like having her hair in her way, and whenever she wore it down, she'd flick it back over her shoulder every so often, and he'd tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and she'd smile sweetly at him.

"Okay, I'm ready to go!" Penny said loudly, grinning when she spotted him at the bathroom door. "Oh! Have you just been watching me do my hair? I wasn't taking _that _long. Was I?"

"No, I just came in to check," Leonard shook his head. Penny followed him out of the bathroom, through to the front room. "Got everything?"

"Yeah, my purse is on the couch." Penny nodded. She tilted her head, before reaching up and running her hands slowly through his hair. She did this a few times, and he could feel his hair getting looser, if that was possible, around his face. Finally, she put her hands on his arms and grinned. "Ah, there's my sexy scruffy boyfriend, he's behind all that hair gel."

"I don't use _that _much." Leonard insisted.

"You use more than I do!" Penny giggled.

"Yeah, but you have, like, hair spray, and straighteners, and curling tongs that look really evil, and... I don't know, hair oil..."

"Well, I just don't pull off sexy and scruffy as well as you do." Penny shrugged, before tapping his nose. "But don't take that as an invitation to mess up my hair. Save that until later when the 'sex' in 'sexy' is more applicable."

"Applicable?" Leonard raised a brow. "Are you stealing my vocabulary?"

Penny grinned. "Shut up."

"Hmm," he chuckled. "Don't worry. I will _definitely _be giving you the sexy, scruffy look later." Leonard ran his hands through her hair slowly, moving it back behind her shoulders, from where it had fallen back to her front. She smiled up at him, and he smiled back, tucking the front strands of her hair behind her ears.

After a moment, Penny let out a soft giggle and shook her head. "I can't believe we just fixed each others hair."


End file.
